Epic trip, epic challenges

Tamahere Brothers Sam and Eli Thomas are well into their epic Vietnamese journey and fundraising effort for prostate cancer.

Eli and Sam Thomas in traditional Vietnamese robes, on their fundraising journey

The pair set out last Monday (April 27) on two 50cc scooters to ride the length of Vietnam – more than 2500km of third world roads.

The challenges came quickly. “0 meters, first breakdown of the day and it’s not even 6am, oil dipstick snapped and dropped into crankcase. Aka half the motor had to come off now,” they posted on their Facebook page.

The former Tamahere School pupils – Sam now 31, Eli, 27 – have named their journey the Dong Project (they haven’t lost their school boy humour) and through sponsorship and donations have already raised more than $5000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

They have completed a number of challenges for which they have been sponsored, including eating chilli-flavoured frogs legs (“tastes like chicken crossed with fish”), the sweaty dong challenge – riding 300km in a full dive suit (“wrong day to pick – it’s 35C and like a desert”), and the traditional dong challenge – riding 280km in a traditional Vietnamese robe.

Their scooters have broken down several times and they’ve also ridden into monsoon weather.